Lauri Cryan of CBC Monkstown, Co Dublin, explains what he and his classmates have been doing during transition year

Why do transition year? Is it just a doss? That's the question that many parents ask before transition year begins. They are partly right, as we don't follow a curriculum, but it's not much of a doss year. We have been trying many subjects, so we can choose the right ones for the Leaving Cert. They haven't all been the most interesting, but that's not all we do.

We have just come back from two weeks of work experience, which started, ideally, straight after the Christmas holidays. I had the opportunity to work in the kitchen of the Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel, in Killiney,

Co Dublin. It was all hands-on, and I was taught new skills and helped with orders. Everyone was very willing to teach there. It was a great fortnight: it showed how the outside world works while we are in the classroom.

There are numerous days when we are stuck in the classroom, but we have a ski trip to Norway, for a week at the end of March, and a week in Connemara, at the end of the year, to look forward to. We are also putting on a school musical, Summer Holiday - its Irish premiere.

Last term we did film studies, which involved going to the IFI a few times, to see a Hungarian film and The Truman Show. We went to the Pavilion Theatre, in Dún Laoghaire, took part in a film workshop and had ski lessons. We also collected more than €2,000 for the Central Remedial Clinic. Another charity event everyone loved was speed dating with Rathdown School.

One morning we met the Minister for Education and Science, Mary Hanafin. She told us about what the future holds for all levels of education, such as the introduction of the technical graphics subject. She also told us about Saudi Arabia, where she had just visited on a trade mission with Bertie Ahern, and her weekly routine. Then we were given a chance to bombard her with questions. She was more willing to answer some than she was others.

I am not mad on fourth year, because it is based around the Leaving Cert subjects (this term, anyway), but the extra subjects just for this year are fun. I still wouldn't have skipped this year, because some of us learned from the work experience what we want, or at least what we don't want, to do.

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